We still don’t get it.
Lost in the noise after B.C.’s tough drunk-driving law was ruled unconstitutional, just in time for Christmas, is an astounding number.
Since the law was introduced in September 2010, more than 23,000 people were given immediate roadside suspensions for driving impaired.
You can argue that police should not have that power; that everyone should have their day in court; that breathalyzer readings may be faulty and should be backed up with a second reading. You can complain about the disproportionate cost to the offender – up to $5,000 – not to mention the potential loss of livelihood, especially for those who drive for a living.
And you could be right. In fact, as they say in courtroom dramas, I’ll stipulate. It’s time to fix the law and reset the balance so an entire generation doesn’t go down under a giant DUI tsunami.
But before we give everyone a get-out-of-jail-free card, let’s talk about that 23,000 number for a minute.
Not all of those people were like the human trainwreck who blew three times the legal limit and was charged for driving the wrong way on the Upper Levels. The law means nothing to someone in that kind of shape. But many of the 23,000 are doing everything they can to convince the courts they weren’t impaired, that the breathalyzer registered a faulty reading, etc.
If they were so clear-headed at the time they got into their cars, what were they thinking? Were they gambling that they could slip through the CounterAttack roadblock? Maybe instead of calculating the possibility of getting caught, why didn’t they pause to consider the simple truth that even being slightly impaired increases their chances of getting in an accident?
Of messing up everyone’s holiday, big time.
Why this compulsion to drive impaired? It’s not just a question for 23,000 drunks. It’s for all of us who continue to text, put on that mascara, eat that breakfast sandwich, drink that hot coffee. That’s driving impaired, too. And to the booze and the not-so-smart phones, add prescriptions drugs, non-prescription drugs, recreational drugs.
It’s a miracle we don’t all end up as roadkill.
The toughest drunk-driving laws in the country managed to reduce deaths by 40 per cent; “only” 68 people died last year, below the average of 113.
It’s that time of year when there are more parties, more drinks, more bad weather, more traffic. A dangerous Christmas punch. As the sugar plums dance in your head, try to remember that the greatest gift you can give your loved ones – and everyone else’s loved ones – is to drive sober.
And Merry Christmas, pilgrim.
